Margarine color injector



y 1953 B. T. HENSGEN ETAL MARGARINE COLOR INJECTOR 2 Sheet$-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 3, 1951 BERNARD T. HENSGEN JOHN A. BRENDLE Fl INVENTOR.

GI kijz I ATTORNEY July 21, 1953 ET. HENSGEN ETAL 2,646,

MARGARINE COLOR INJECTOR JOHN .A. BRENDLE INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY BERNARD T HENSGEN- Patented July 21, 1953 1 2,646,190 I MARGARINE coLoaI J o'roR" Bernard T. Hensg'en and John'A. m lanomcago, 111., assignors to Swift & Company; Chi- J cago lll a corporation of Illinois Application Febr ary s, 195;, serial o; 209,266

'Thepresent invention relates to a methodand apparatus for dispensing a lentous fluent material,'particularly in measured quantities witl rout dripping or smearingiafter the desired quan-" tity has been discharged.

' In many applications, such a ',mate'rial is disp'ensed under conditionswhere adrip from the nozzle may contaminate or cause an undesirable deposit on other objects; Suchfmaterial may have an abrasive or other. deleterious action on machinery used in conjunction with'the dispenser, These actions are particularly pronouncedwhere the dispenser is'a 'part of auto= matic or semi-automatic machinery.

' In many instances, the mere existence of a bead Y of 'materialon' the end of the dispensing nozzle is objectionable, whether or not the bead becomes sufiiciently large to fall-from the nozzle. The

position or movement of the nozzle with respect to' adjacent objects may be such that a -bead would rub off on those objects.

" exampleof an operationwhere there mustnot be a bead on ,or drop from a nozzle is in the inserting of paste color'into blocks of un-colored margarine. the paste color inserted into the center of the block,'andthe hole closed. For all practical purposes, the'block is uncolored margarine, but, by kneading 'orstirring, the color maybe dispensed throughout the block to produce colored margarine.

' i For uniformity, the quantity of coloring de POSitEQ'ShOllld' be precisely measured, and no additio'nal coloring should" be left at the nozzle opening where it mightrub off on the sidesof the opening or topof theblock. to produce a.colorationiof the margarine,orwoulddrop o fifon the block or the associated machinery. I The. principal .objectof the presentiinvenition is to supply; a method and apparatus which will dispense uniform quantities of a lentous fluent material such as the margarine coloring paste without any after-drip. and without leaving any material about the nozzle. a I

, A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which not'onlywill cons'tantly duplicate the same amountsof ejected material, but one wherein the quantity to be deposited may be variedto meet the different requirements that may be necessarya Additional objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction'with the drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an illustrative embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the embodiment of Fig. 1 with the various parts broken away to'illustrate the operation of the device;

Fig. 3 is a section taken at line ,3-3of Fig. 2; and

Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are sectional 'views of the Here,a block of margarine is drilled,.

I within which is a piston 4|.

42 is secured to both piston 24 and piston 4| so, that the former will move inresponse to move-.

. Claims; (01. ace- 109) 1 nozzle Fig. 2 showing the action of the dis-' penser. I v Fig, 1, illustrates a portion of a device for mjecting a given amount of coloring paste "into an opening it in a block of uncolored margarine ll carried along upon an intermittent conveyor I2. A yoke 14, reciprocally mountedin a pair of jiguides I5 secured to a suitable frame, not shown,

supports the dispensing device, generally 5.. Cross bar I! at the base of yoke [4 has a down--v wardly projecting portion l8 which rides upon a suitable cam l9. The rotation of the cam pushes the yoke l4 upwardly and a lowering of the cam iace'allows'the yoke M'and dispenserflfi' to descend to insert the nozzle 2i of the dispenser i6 into opening [0 inblock of margarine ll.

Referring to Fig. 2, the dispenser It includes;

a body 22 housing the measuring and fluid. retraction mechanism. .A bore within the body 22 forms a first cylinder 23 within which is mounted, a piston 24. A feed line 26. communicates with cylinder 23through a passage 21 within which ismounted a check valve 28.

1 Co-axial with cylinder 231s at. opening an in body 22 to receive the check and feed control valve, generally 3|. 'Valve 3| includes a piston likelmember 32 backed by a compression spring 33 seated against a plug 34 threaded into body a cap 35 covers .the end of opening 30;

At the area of juncture between opening 30 and cylinder 23, the-body 22 forms a tapered seat 31.

The nose of member 32 is tapered to a similar angle to provide a good seal when member 32 is pressed againstseat 3T. r f

Thefiuid-powered actuating means. for piston 24 includes a casing 39 forming an inner cylinder A connecting rod ments of the latter. In a manner well known in ';the art, a gland 43 prevents fluid lealrage about connecting rod 42.

.The fluid lines45 and 46 communicate, through passages 41 and ,48 respectively, with either end of cylinder 60 at opposite sides of piston 4|.

The portion of the apparatus thus far describedserves the function of injecting a measured quantity of lentous fluent material into an opening .50

in' body 22, which opening communicates with the bore of nozzle 2|. Fig. 3. illustrates. the

vacuum means for withdrawing an amount of respectively, with the latter piston and piston said material from opening 50 so as to prevent any dripping or smearing of the fluent material at the end 5| of nozzle 2!. The vacuum means includes a second cylinder 53 formed within body 22, within which cylinder is a piston 54. Cylinder 53 communicates directly Withopening 50. The mechanism for actuating the vacuum:

piston 54 includes a cylinder and piston, 55 and For the sake of appearance and cleanliness,

54 being connected by means of rod 51. A compression spring 59' is mounted between piston 56 and an annular projection 55 at the rear of cylinder 53 and piston 54. the end of cylinder 55 communicates with passage 41 and fiuid line 45 through an interconnecting pipe 62 (Fig. 1).

It is believed that the method of operation will be apparent from the foregoing description of the apparatus; however, a brief summary of the operation may be of some aid. The lentous fluent materialis introduced into pipe 26 from a suitable source of supply. Fluid pressure applied to pipe 46 and released from pipe 45 causes piston M to move to the right, moving piston 24 to the right also (Fig. 2) and filling cylinder 23. Since the interior of cap Bl over cylinder 55 also coinmunicates' with pipe '45, the release of fluid in this line allows spring 59 to move pistons 56 and 54 to the left (Fig. 3).. A reversal of the fluid pressure in lines 45' and 45' moves interconnecting A hollow cap 6! over 4 4888 of .the Revised Statutes and should not be construed as imposing any unnecessary limitations upon the appended claims. From the foregoing description of a specific embodiment, those skilled in the art will appreciate the many possible variations, and other applications to differpistons 4| and 24 to the left, forcing a predetermined quantity of fluid material from the cylinder into opening 50. At the same time, the pressure from pipe being applied to the end of cylinder 55 forces pistons 54 and 55 to the right. Assuming the system to be full of the fluent material and starting from the position shown in Figs. '2 and 3, the application of fluid pressure to pipe 45 forces a measured quantity of fluent material from cylinder 23 into opening and, at the same time, forces material from cylinder 53 into passage 50. These movements of the two pistons 24 and 54 eject a quantity of the fluent material 65 from the end of nozzle 2! as illustrated in Fig. 4; Because of its own weight, this material 65 may start to separate from the nozzle 2!, forming a neck 66 in the material as illustrated in Fig. 5.

The release of fiuid pressurefrom pipe 45 coincident with the application of fluid pressure to pipe 46 forces interconnecting pistons 4! and 24 to the right, immediately allowing check valve 3| to close. As a matter of fact, check valve 3| may previously have started to close, depending upon the setting of the valve, as hereinafter described, and the consistency of the material. At the sametime, spring 59 forces interconnecting pistons 54 and 56 to the left in Fig. 3, producing a vacuum adjacent the upper end of passage 56. This vacuum draws the fluentmaterial within passage and nozzle 2! upwardly, breaking off the quantity of material at the end of the'nozzle andproducing a concavity 5'! at the lower end of nozzle 2% as illustrated'in Fig. 6. The amount of material that is withdrawn into cylinder 53 by piston 54 is again ejected into passage 50 upon the next impulse stroke so that the volume of the material ejected into the passage is constant, insuring that the predetermined quantity of material is always discharged from nozzle 2|.

The amount of material to be discharged from the nozzle may be varied by adjusting the tension on spring 33 of the check and feed control valve 3|. Movement of threaded plug 34 to the right or left in Fig. 2 increases or decreases the compression of spring 33, thus decreasing or increasing respectively the quantity of material that will be ejected into opening 50. Of course, if any large changes in the discharged volume are required, it will be necessary to change the stroke of piston 24 or the cross-sectional area of cylinder 23.

The foregoing description of a specific embodiment is for the purpose of complying with section ent types of apparatus.

We claim:

1. A dispensing device for a lentous fluent material including a dispensing nozzle having a p ssagetherein through which said material may be withdrawn from a source of supply and dispens d, a pair of check valves spaced in said passage a d defining a first portion of said passage, each of said check'valves being positioned to permit flow of material only in the direction of said nozzle from said source of supply, a first piston and cylinder communicating with said first portion of said passage, fluid-actuated means connected to said first piston to move said piston in said cylinder, a second piston and cylinder communicating with the portion of said passage between said first portion thereof and said nozzle, a second fluid-actuated means connected to said second piston to move said second piston in its cylinder, a common fluid supply means in direct communication with each of said t'wo'fluid-actuated means through which changes in fluid pressure may be applied simultaneously to move said fluidactuated means and their respective pistons in the direction of reducing the size of the portions of the cylinders communicating with said passage whereby material from eachof the cylinders is forced into said passage, and means to subsequently move said pistons in the opposite direction.

2. A dispensing device for a lentous fluentmaterial including a dispensing nozzle having a passage therein through which said material may be withdrawn from a source of supply and dispensed, a pair of check valves spaced in said passage and defining a first portion of said passage, each of said check valves being positioned to permit flow ofimaterial only in the direction of said nozzle from said source of supply, a first piston and cylinder communicating with said first portion of said passage; fluid-actuated means connected to said first piston to'move said piston in said cylinder, asecond piston and cylinder communicating with. the portion of said passage between said first portion thereof and said nozzle, a second fluid-actuated means connected to said second piston to move said second piston in its cylinder, each of said means being movable in one direction to move their respective pistons in the direction of pushing the material in the respective cylinders to said passage, resilient means urging said second means and second piston in the reverse of said one direction, means for moving said first fluid-actuated means and said first piston in the reverse of said one direction, and a common fluid supply means in direct communication with each of 1 said two fluid-actuated means through which changes in fluid pressure may be applied simultaneously to move said fluid-actuated means and their respective pistons in said one direction.

BERNARD T. HENSGEN. JOHN A. BRENDLE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name I Date 2,103,817 Johnson Dec. 28, 1937 2,523,560 COZZOli Sept. 26,1950 

